Ferdinand Piëch: 1937-2019. Kieron Fennelly looks back at an extraordinary and crucially important career in the motor industry… Ferdinand Piëch died suddenly on August 25th. Once the most powerful man in the auto industry, he was also instrumental in the early development of the Porsche 911 and on more than one occasion, its reprieve. From his earliest days where he worked with Hans Mezger … [Read more...]
VW Passat Estate Business – Wheels-Alive Road Test
Keith Ward is your guide... This is the eighth generation of the Passat, which since its launch in 1973 has racked up over 22 million sales worldwide and going on for half a million in the UK, where the estate version consistently outsells the saloon, £1,530 cheaper. Its star is not fading – in its latest form the Passat was named Europe’s Car of the Year 2015. And a telling tribute to its … [Read more...]
Volkswagen Passat
VW's latest Passat is actually the eighth generation since they introduced the name in 1973. By Tom Scanlan It's a completely new car and, as pretty well all manufacturers are managing at the moment, offers more efficiency in terms of fuel consumption and up to 14% cleaner emissions. Some of this is down to a weight saving of up to a massive 85 kilograms. Of course, no new car would be … [Read more...]
Latest Volkswagens Sampled
Kim Henson drives two of the latest VW Polos plus the new Golf SV and the rapid Golf R... As model names, Polo and Golf have in each case been with us for around four decades, but of course these justifiably popular Volkswagen models have evolved as the years have passed, and – as has always been the case – the latest versions represent current ‘state of the art’ design and … [Read more...]
Electric Volkswagen e-up!
Volkswagen has announced its first fully electric production vehicle, the four seater ‘e-up!’. The e-up! Will be powered by an 82PS motor, which will enable the car to reach 62 mph from rest within 14 seconds, and it is said that it will have a range between charges of 150 km (about 100 miles). Its battery can be recharged to up to 80 per cent of its storage capacity with half an hour. The … [Read more...]
Volkswagen Golf (third generation) Ecomatic 1.9 Diesel
Kim Henson goes back to the future in a fascinating Golf... Such is the rate of change in terms of technologies built into the latest cars, that I feel often it is useful to drive an older model to appreciate just how much things have altered. In any case, as friends and colleagues will testify, I need little excuse to drive any part of automotive history! To me, a car built in 1994 is not … [Read more...]
